Responsible for leading a team of 50 students across 6 subteams in the development of a high powered hybrid rocket to compete in the Spaceport America Cup

Successfully defined, developed, and managed the first ever hybrid rocket program at Cornell, leading an interdisciplinary team of 13 mechanical, electrical, and software engineersLead the design and development of a hybrid propulsion test stand, subscale and full-scale hybrid engine from concept through to successful hot fire, generating 260 lbf of thrust and 400 lbf thrust respectivelyWrote MATLAB hybrid rocket design tool to calculate fuel grain dimensions, oxidizer load, throat diameter, and thrustCNC machined over 40 unique components on 3- and 4-axis HAAS mills, accumulating over 175 hours of experience Secured over $66,500 in corporate sponsorships of cash and propulsion hardware

Designed fluid system and created piping and instrumentation diagram (P&ID) for hybrid propulsion test standVerified N2O flow rates and purge/pressurization performance using thermodynamics and fluid dynamics calculationsGuided members in designing modular N2O oxidizer injector, mechanically actuated valve, and oxidizer vent system

Owned propulsion hardware across Starship V1, V2, and Booster V3

Created system P&ID, manufactured GSE cart and wrote procedure, enabling first ion thruster hot-fire test at Astranis Developed and executed leak and vibration testing procedures to validate flexible PEEK tubing termination hardwareDesigned and machined aluminum fixtures for simulated launch vibration testing of flexible tubing hardwareCreated pressure drop calculation tool in MATLAB to evaluate Xenon propulsion filter, tubing, and valve selection

•Designed vacuum furnace lift in Solidworks, outsourced CNC machining of components, assembled completed device •Developed and executed experiments for improving Inconel and stainless-steel 3D printing•Conducted research and successfully developed a procedure to 3D print components with novel ceramics•Supported lab team with rapid prototyping, and taught co-workers how to 3D print with FDM and resin printers•Created vacuum assemblies to withstand temperatures up to 1900°C to enable material science experiments

Dr. Litchinitser’s photonics laboratory